lathe for sale; thoughts?

That is a Craftsman "Commercial" 12. It looks like it is all there, and what is visible in the photos can be cleaned up. He has a milling attachment with it that is worth $350-400 on its own, and the QCGB is worth $300 at minimum, so if the lathe is toast you can part it out and recoup your losses very easily. Yes, parts are widely available on eBay. Manuals and knowledge on Atlas/Craftsman machines are all over the web. It would be a perfect machine to learn on.
 
Go get it !!!, like Pontiac said, you can re-sell parts and come out ahead.
That bein said it looks like it will clean up and be a good user/learner machine to me ............
 
I have basicaly the same one but without the stand and underslung drive (which I would prefer). Yes, well woth the price. The lathe looks a bit weathered, but these were sold as hobby lathes, not production machines, so they are seldom worn out. I like mine, the 12" comercial has thicker bed ways than the normal 10-12 Atlas/Craftsman lathe. I paid 550 for mine, without the steady rest and milling attachment, it did have a qctp, to give you a price point. Cosmeticaly it looked about like that one. Good luck.
 
I would like to see whats behind door #2 & 3 , IMO $850 is a good price considering the milling attachment and steady rest . You will want a QCTP to go with it , those aren't that expensive . The condition at first glance looks not so good but I think it is just light rust and will clean up quickly . One thing we cant see are the ways . Good luck .
 
It may be a good deal; I paid 840 for my bench model of that machine with no steady rest (I could care less about the milling attachment) and it needed cleanup, but it all comes down to condition- gears, bearings, ways, etc. Some parts are expensive to replace
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